From New York to Kalundborg – Lundbye painting comes home
At an auction in New York and with a generous donation from the Bent O. Jørgensens Foundation, Museum Vestsjælland has acquired a very special work by Johan Thomas Lundbye. The title is 'Ships in Port at Kalundborg Fjord' and is dated 1846. So it is one of Lundbye's late works. The work comes from the private collection of the American John L. Loeb. He was the US ambassador to Denmark 1981-1983 and owns one of the largest private collections of Danish Golden Age art outside Denmark. The motif is completely local and is very relevant to Kalundborg Museum both in terms of art history, topography and cultural history. The motif can be located in the inner fjord, which was later dammed and drained, and became known as 'Rejepytten'. Today it is the Elmegade area. The painting is reproduced in Jens Balslev's book about Lundbye and Kalundborg. In addition to the motif itself, the painting is also interesting for the museum, as we already have a painting by Lundbye painted in the same series with the entire view seen from the opposite coast. We also have one of the preparatory works for the painting in the form of a watercolor. Johan Thomas Lundbye (1818-1848) was born and raised in Kalundborg, and he found many of his motifs in the area. The paintings are not just works of art – they are part of Kalundborg's history and self-understanding. We are looking forward to getting it home – the plan is to exhibit it at Kalundborg Museum as soon as possible, where we already have an exhibition of local Lundbye paintings. Read more about the exhibition here.
